An international team led by researchers from the US Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory used advanced electron microscopy techniques to show how different compositions of cathode material can affect a battery’s structure at the atomic level and thus how effectively it works.

The new research aims to overcome their drawbacks – a limited number of recharge cycles and tendency to degrade in capacity over their lifetime.

Alpesh Khushalchand Shukla, a Scientist at Berkeley Lab’s Molecular Foundry, said: “This finding could change the way we look at phase transformations within the cathode and the resulting loss of capacity in this class of material.”